The Untold World
by The Pezman
Summary: Where precisely was Kairi between the time Destiny Islands was destroyed and when Riku found her? Crossover, though I'm not saying with what (it's fairly obvious at the end of the prologue). Based off the Archie series.
1. Prologue

THE UNTOLD WORLD: PROLOGUE  
The Pezman  
  
I stood at the table with Maleficent and one of her cronies. I didn't know who it was, nor did I  
care. All I knew was that I was one step closer to saving her.  
  
"That smarmy vizier could've had em.... if SOMEONE had stuck around to give him a hand."   
The minion leered at me.  
  
"Hey, I did my part. I brought the princess, didn't I?" That had been easy. She was unconscious,  
and another lackey had been keeping Sora and his goon squad busy down below.  
  
"Jafar was beyond help, consumed by his own hatred," the witch declared in her monotone voice.   
"One should beware of letting it burn too fiercely." Was she talking to me? I doubted it. I bore  
no hatred in my heart. The only person who could come close was Sora, and I had simply cut all  
connections with him. I neither appreciated nor despised him. The warning must have been for her  
subordinate.  
  
He thought so too. "Whoa whoa whoa. Lighten up. I'm as cool as they come, okay?" What an  
idiot. If he were so cool and calm, he wouldn't have taken up with this witch. Everyone under her  
wants something, and they know she can get it for them. "By the way, kid..." he suddenly and  
unexpectedly addressed me as if we were old pals, "have we got something special for you."  
  
I was so surprised by this total change in the focus of things that I blurted out "Huh?" before  
anything else.  
  
"We had a deal, yes?" Maleficent chimed in. "You helped us, and we grant you your wish...."   
And then she appeared. Not her, actually, but a hologram. She was horizontal and motionless.   
Heartless. Only her appearance separated her from those annoying black creatures Maleficent had  
been using.   
  
"Kairi!" I cried in another sporadic outburst.  
  
The witch seemed to understand my excitement. "Go to her. Your vessel is waiting." And then  
another one of her seemingly endless lieutenants appeared. His voice was harsh and annoying as  
he spoke.  
  
"Just remember this is no pleasure cruise. It won't be a pleasant voyage." Pleasure held no  
meaning for me anymore. The only times I could remember real pleasure was when I was with  
her, near her, talking to her. And it had seemed ages since that had happened. I was about to  
mindlessly leave with this new escort when it dawned on me: this is too good to be true! I couldn't  
be getting Kairi back just by delivering an unconscious girl. There's something wrong here...  
"Why are you doing all this for me? What's the catch?"  
  
"Catch?" she repeated as if I was speaking in another language. "What's the catch? Silly boy," she  
patronizingly scolded me. "You're like a son to me. I only want you to be happy." Yeah, and go a  
million miles out of YOUR way. She extended her arm and gently stroked my face, the first hint  
of emotion I'd ever seen her exhibit. But that didn't mean I wanted it. I pulled back out of her  
arm's reach.  
  
"I seriously doubt that," I muttered to myself. The thought of someone who looked and acted so  
stoic wanting someone else to be happy just didn't ring in my book.  
  
"Believe what you wish," she replied. Evidently, I hadn't been as quiet as I would've liked. "But  
lest we forget, I kept my end of the bargain." Wanting my happiness indeed. She must be  
overwhelmingly concerned about every little thing to throw our deal into the fray. Truth be told, I  
couldn't even remember my part of the contract. I had been so eager when she said she could help  
that I signed on without a second thought. I simply scowled and left with the newest flunky.  
  
******************************************************************************  
  
Maleficent watched the boy leave. Their relationship was purely business... for now. She intended  
to change that. With time, he could outmatch the key-bearer, both physically and in strength of  
heart.   
  
"What was the purpose of this?" the darkness asked.   
  
"The boy's singular goal is the attainment of his friend and her heart. Nothing will stop him."  
  
"And nothing will stop ME from keeping my niece!" The black melted into a large, rotund figure.  
His cone head and outrageous moustache gave him a somewhat comical appearance, although he  
was anything but a laughing matter. "Bending the Heartless to my will took less effort than  
bending my forefinger. They had no free will to begin with. Employing my technique brings them  
completely under my control with no threat of my heart being consumed."  
  
"Are you certain about that, Julian?" Maleficent turned and walked away, vanishing as she did so.  
  
"Absolutely," Dr. Robotnik replied. "No one will take Kairi Kintobor from me! And my new  
robo-Heartless will see to it!" 


	2. Monstro

THE UNTOLD WORLD   
CHAPTER ONE: MONSTRO  
The Pezman   
  
"How much longer until we get to the world?" I inquired. My brash tone probably made it sound  
like an order, but I really didn't care what this guy thought of me. I wouldn't have to deal with  
any of these scumbags for much longer.  
  
"However long is it, it won't be soon enough," the ship's captain muttered. Evidently, he wasn't  
enjoying this any more than I was. But we were both working under Maleficent, neither of us had  
much choice.  
  
"Cap'n Hook, Cap'n Hook!" A sniveling, whimpering lackey with a voice almost as annoying as  
the duck's came scurrying over.  
  
"What is it, Smee?! I've got better things to do than listen to your..."  
  
"Cap'n, look!" He gestured off the ship into the deep expansive void. There was a large blue  
object about 500 yards away.   
  
"What?! A giant whale?! Avoid it, at all costs!"  
  
"No," I countered. "Bring the ship towards it. I want a better look." Even from here, I could see  
a small flash of red, which resembled a certain rocketship a certain Keyblade master had told me  
about when last we met.   
  
"Are you out of your head, boy?! He'll swallow us whole!"  
  
"I think someone I know is in there. I'll go alone, none of you have to risk your precious necks."  
  
That put Claw, or whatever his name was, into a frenzy. "WHAT?! Are you calling me a  
coward?! That's it, I'm going in with you!"  
  
"This matter doesn't concern you," I blandly stated. "Just get me over there, then stay onboard  
and guard the ship."  
  
"OOOOOOOOOOhhhhhhh, how I can't STAND that boy!" I heard him whisper to his lackey  
behind my back.  
  
******************************************************************************  
  
"Sal, these guys keep on coming!" an imperceptible figure noted. It was darting in and out of the  
trees, literally cutting through the enemy robots.  
  
"Tell me something I don't know!" a blue-vested squirrel replied. "Have you noticed this weird  
symbol on some of them? It looks kind of like a heart...." She was trying to take down a certain  
robot which seemed to emulate its creator in terms of mass. However, all frontal attacks proved  
ineffectual, and her adversary was using its bulk to the utmost.  
  
"Symbol?" replied the figure. Because he was constantly moving, the squirrel had to constantly  
change which direction she listened in while simultaneously defending herself from the bot.  
"Nope, I haven't seen any symbols."   
  
"Zat would be because you are never in zee one spot, so you never zee zees sorts of tings." A  
ridiculous-looking coyote with an even more ridiculous accent ran through another robot with his  
sword, only to be struck by another from behind. Immediately, though, the coyote was airlifted  
out of harm's way.  
  
"Careful, 'Twain! Most of these guys go down easy, but there're a lot of them, and they're  
smarter than the swatbots." The coyote's savior, a fox, couldn't have been older than his  
passenger, as the airlifter's youthful grin clearly placed him in his very early teens. He was  
clutching the coyote by the wrists with both of his gloved hands. He appeared to be hovering in  
midair, his tail whirring. But if one were to look closely, one would see that the fox actually had  
two tails, which provided this useful ability.  
  
"Oui," responded the coyote. "But I cannot zee zem all at once. Zey like to surround me and  
hit me when I am distracted." The fox then set his passenger back on the ground, who  
immediately jumped back into the fray.  
  
"There's a fresh batch on the way, sorry to disappoint y'all," a new voice rang out. This creature  
was perhaps the strangest yet. She was making this report from above the treetops, though her  
feet were on the ground, and constantly being defended by her companions. She did not seem to  
be naturally so tall, as her metal legs were out of proportion to the rest of her otherwise normal  
body.   
  
"Bunnie," called the squirrel. "Get down here. Rotor, we can't last much longer, but we can't  
lead them to our hideaway. We're gonna need a chaff grenade and someone'll have to carry  
Bunnie!"  
  
"Gotcha, Princess!" the last member of the group, a large purple walrus, called back. Then a  
somewhat odd thing occurred. The metal legs began to retract. Soon enough, the owner of the  
legs was made visible, and then she shrunk down to the normal size that everyone except the  
walrus held.   
  
The owner of these peculiar appendages turned out to be a rabbit, and a rather attractive one at  
that. However, one couldn't help but notice that her left arm was of the same metallic nature as  
that of her legs. But otherwise she was a charming rabbit with an even more charming accent.   
"Ah'll right. Rotor, do yah stuff."  
  
"I have got you, Bunnie!" Twain, the coyote, bounded over to the rabbit and picked her up while  
Rotor threw the grenade. The imperceptible figure that had constantly been on the move now  
stopped, and it was possible for one to get a look at him. He was all blue, save for his stomach,  
arms, and part of his face, and, like the fox, wore white gloves on his hand. A grin seemed to be  
plastered on his face. "Let's juice, Sal!"  
  
******************************************************************************   
  
I couldn't believe I was doing this. Sneaking around the mouth of a whale so I wouldn't have to  
confront Sora. This really wasn't my style. But I didn't want to reveal myself here, as he'd be  
able to escape too easily. No, I needed a place where he couldn't run away. I easily navigated  
past the rubble, keeping myself underwater so that I wouldn't be seen, only coming up for air  
behind the wooden piles, where I could not be seen. At last, I reached the base of a boat, the  
almighty blade-wielder on top. He was apparently distracted by some old man. It was no  
problem to swim around to the other side of the boat unnoticed. I quietly exited the pool and  
made a mad dash toward the nearby gaping hole. Sora was really going to pay for making me  
sneak around like this. I entered the hole and found myself in a room with two new holes.   
Suddenly, a Heartless appeared. It was different than the black ones I was used to seeing, and it  
had that odd heart mark on it. It had a sort of tail, and it had an eye hanging out of its socket.   
But its appearance didn't matter to me. I disposed of it in three seconds flat and leapt for the  
nearest hole. I wasn't a moment too soon, for just as I hid myself an odd little boy came clunking  
into the room. His joints were making odd noises. I looked again, then suddenly did a double  
take. He was wooden! There was a wooden puppet walking around! There were no strings, and  
I couldn't see any ventriloquists at all. He was moving completely independently! But all my  
thoughts were cut off as THEY entered, hot on his trail.   
  
"What are you doing?" I froze. Had Sora grown that perceptive in the short time we'd been  
apart to notice me? I had hidden myself well and hadn't moved a muscle. But he didn't approach  
me. It was then I realized he was talking to the puppet. I guessed that if the puppet was moving  
on its own, then it might be able to talk as well. "Come on, let's go back."  
  
"You know," cautioned the dog-looking thing. "Geppetto's awfully worried about you."  
Gepetto? The name didn't ring a bell at all. I supposed it didn't really matter.  
  
"Pinocchio, stop fooling around!" Sora spoke again. Pinocchio? What an odd name. He still  
seemed to be addressing the puppet, so I assumed Pinocchio was the puppet's name. "This is no  
time for games!" He then turned around and walked with his strange comrades back toward the  
mouth. Crap, he was going back. Oh well, it was now or never.  
  
"But Sora," I called, stepping out of my hiding place toward the puppet. "I thought you liked  
games. Or are you too cool to play them now that you have the Keyblade?"  
  
Sora's reaction was better than I could have hoped. Unlike my cool, confident personage, he  
was caught completely off guard. "Riku! Wh-what are you doing here?" Good question. I  
thought quickly. Well, if he was going to find some new friends, I might as well. What was this  
puppet's name again...?  
  
"Just playing with Pinocchio," I responded, moving toward the puppet.  
  
"You know what I mean! What about Kairi? Did you find her?" It took all my energy just to  
keep myself from bashing him on the head. Did I find Kairi? What had HE done? It amazed me  
that he could stand there and ask that without even thinking about it. But here was not the place  
to finish this. He was still too close to the exit. And his concern for this wooden boy was useful.  
  
"Maybe. Catch us, and maybe I'll tell you what I know."   
  
"Come on!" the great Keyblade master protested. But I had already grabbed the puppet and run  
into the hole I had shamefully hidden in only seconds before.   
  
******************************************************************************  
  
I ran through the whale innards like a madman, Pinocchio trailing behind me like a sail. I  
encountered more of those strange, ghostlike Heartless, as well as the more familiar Heartless I'd  
seen before. But I didn't stop for anything, not for them, not for the treasure chests scattered  
throughout. Whenever I entered a new area, my only goal was getting to the hole I hadn't come  
out of. At last I halted. I was on a ledge above many sections I recognized from my passing  
through earlier, facing only one hole, one I had not been in yet. I could sense a foreboding  
presence in it, and I had a sickening feeling I knew who it was. I looked down, and saw Sora's  
trio running through one of the sections down below. It wouldn't be long before they caught up  
with me. "Wait here," I cautioned the puppet. It was pathetic, really. He had believed this was  
all a game, even when I was pulling him by the arm through the chambers. I guess it hadn't hurt  
him, since wood has no nerve fibers. "When Sora and the others come, run to me. I should be  
finished with what I have to do in there." He nodded. I walked in, confirming my suspicions.  
  
"Why do you still care about that boy? He has all but deserted you for the Keyblade and his  
new companions, after all."  
  
"I don't care about him," I reasoned, both to Maleficent and myself. "I was just messing with him  
a little."  
  
"Oh really?" she retorted. "Of course you were." My fists were clenched, but I knew she was  
right. Why was I leading him on this chase? Making sure he couldn't escape couldn't be the only  
reason. "Beware the darkness in your heart. The Heartless pray upon it." She then turned  
around, walking into one of her annoying trademark portals.   
  
"Mind your own business!" I called after her, just before she vanished completely. Pinocchio ran  
in at that moment, and as I had hoped, Sora and the oddballs were trailing him.   
  
"Riku, what's the matter with you? What are you thinking? Don't you realize what you're  
doing?"  
  
I WAS taking precious time away from finding Kairi, but he had taken much more than I had. Of  
the two of us, he was evidently the one to blame. "I was about to ask you the same thing, Sora.   
You only seem interested in running around and showing off that Keyblade these days." Now to  
find out what his REAL intentions are. "Do you even want to save Kairi?"  
  
"I do," he stated. I was about to debunk that when I heard a voice I hadn't heard before. It was  
coming from the next room over. I quickly looked around and noticed Pinocchio was missing. I  
ran into the bowels, pausing only for a second to think of the consequences. Sora and my  
replacements followed me.   
  
******************************************************************************  
  
Just great. A Heartless. Stronger than the rest of the ones in here, I gathered. It was purple,  
with a nondescript head and a cage for a body, with Pinocchio trapped inside. His hollering was  
the first time I had heard his voice, and it sounded just like one that may have been mine or Sora's  
in our youth. But why would this Heartless want Pinocchio? I would understand if it had a  
human trapped in there. The Heartless would want its..... that was it! If this puppet could walk  
and talk, then it most likely had a heart! And if a puppet has a heart, then it has to be incredibly  
pure! Almost as pure as.... her's. Now I had a new reason for obtaining this puppet, but I  
realized that I couldn't do it alone. Sora and his goons also seemed intent on fighting this  
Heartless. "You up for this?" I asked him.  
  
"No problem. Let's do it!" Talking as if he'd never left my side.  
  
"Hmph," I muttered. And then we got to it. Sora leapt up to the head and continuously slashed  
at it. The duck and the dog were less intelligent, standing next to the creature and jumping to hit  
it. The Heartless would merely swing its tentacles and smack them both. I, on the other hand,  
ran around the room, leaping and striking the head every so often. In retrospect, I should've  
taken Sora's approach. I overestimated this Heartless, and would have been able to deal a lot  
more damage without the danger of being knocked out. But regardless, the Heartless fell soon  
enough. Once it did, it expelled Pinocchio into a hole it had been sitting upon, and lifted itself up  
into the inner workings of the whale. Without hesitation, I leapt in after Pinocchio, leaving Sora's  
group behind.   
  
******************************************************************************  
  
Going through the bowels was not a pleasant experience, and it is suffice to say I wound up  
hanging onto the whale's tail with Pinocchio, now heartless, in tow. It seemed I had been too late  
in preventing his heart from being snatched. This, however, could be remedied by defeating that  
Heartless again, this time for good. But first I'd have to get back inside the whale. I climbed onto  
the tail and carefully treaded across the whale's smooth skin until I reached its blowhole. I  
jumped into it, landing back in the mouth. And wouldn't you know it, I fell right on the boat, next  
to the old man. He had been sleeping, and my crash landing stirred him. I dove into the water  
just as he fully came to his senses. "Pinocchio? Sora? Where are you?" I didn't want to deal  
with this old coot, but I couldn't stay here. It was then I noticed a hole above the one I had first  
gone into. I recalled the Heartless had pulled itself upwards, so going upwards myself seemed  
like a logical course of action. I noticed a wooden pile that extended upwards toward a pathway  
which conveniently extended to the higher opening, so I quietly jumped my way up off extending  
platforms. Once I got to the pathway, however, the old man finally noticed me, just as Sora and  
his almighty warriors dropped in. "Pinocchio! Pinocchio! Please, give me back my son!"  
  
His son? Then this man must have made Pinocchio. Although how he got Pinocchio to be  
animate and, more importantly, to possess a heart, was beyond me. But whatever his methods, I  
needed the puppet more than he did. "Sorry, old man. I have some unfinished business with this  
puppet."  
  
"He's no puppet! Pinocchio is my little boy!" This man, in addition to possessing the ingenuity to  
construct a facsimile boy, must have had the quality of senility. This puppet may walk, talk and  
have a heart like little boys, but in the end he's a compilation of buttons and nails. Yet how could  
buttons and nails have a heart....?  
  
"He is unusual. Not many puppets have hearts. I'm not sure, but maybe he can help someone  
who's lost their's." It was true. I wasn't fully convinced this would work. But I'd try anything to  
restore life to her.  
  
"Wait a minute. Are you talking about Kairi?"  
  
Wow. As quick as his thoughts as he was with his friends. "What do you care about her?" I spat,  
then immediately ran into the higher opening. I'd wasted enough time here already. Once I  
walked through the hole, I was greeted with a series of platforms and Heartless. Like before, I  
wasted no time in fighting them, I only jumped my way up the platforms. I saw a hole, which was  
constantly opening and closing, at the top, so I headed toward that. It turned out I didn't need to,  
as I was sucked up the hole when I got close enough. I was deposited in a room with a central  
platform, along with many other platforms attached to the wall around it. The only way to go  
was up, so I set Pinocchio down and paused to think.  
  
******************************************************************************   
  
Why was I constantly running away from Sora? What did I have to gain from making him follow  
me like this? What did I have to hide? Did I want to make sure he didn't stop me from taking  
Pinocchio? Did he really not want to save Kairi? Then I remembered our life back on Destiny  
Islands. How the three of us had always played together, sometimes with Selphie, Tidus and  
Wakka, but usually on our own. How much fun we had. Could it really be possible that Sora had  
ignored all this and started a new life with those creatures? I had accepted it as a sad truth when  
Maleficent convinced me of it, but now that I thought about it without her leaning over my  
shoulder, I began to think that there was no way Sora could have forgotten about either Kairi or  
myself. Come to think of it, I didn't know whether he had joined up with those two oddballs by  
choice or not. Or maybe he had only wanted to go with them temporarily, until he found me. I  
decided I'd give him another chance. He now knew what I wanted with Pinocchio. And if he  
loved Kairi enough, he'd want the same thing. With the Keyblade master by my side, I could shed  
my dependence on the witch and we could save her... together, as friends. At this point he  
entered. It was the moment of reckoning for us both. "Hey, let Pinocchio go, Riku."  
  
"A puppet that's lost his heart to the Heartless..." I gestured toward the said character. "Maybe it  
holds the key to helping Kairi," I stated. I wanted to have the proposition fresh in his mind. Then  
came the leap of faith. "How about it Sora?" I asked, extending my hand toward him. "Let's join  
forces to save her. We can do it, together." Almost instantaneously his Keyblade was out. I had  
built myself up so heavily for this moment that at first I couldn't believe his gesture. "What?  
You'd rather fight me? Over a puppet that has no heart?"   
  
"Heart or no heart, at least he still has a conscience."  
  
"Conscience?" I repeated. What did that have to do with anything? We had to save Kairi... no  
matter what.  
  
"You might not hear it, but now it's loud and clear. And it's telling me you're on the wrong side!"  
  
Well, that was it then. I couldn't possibly understand how he thought anyone trying to save one  
of his best friends could be on the wrong side, but since he wasn't a part of the solution, he was  
part of the problem. "Then you leave me no choice."  
  
"Pinocchio! Pinocchio!" An incredibly short insect was pleading with the heartless puppet. I  
made a move to brush the insect aside and claim Pinocchio, but was stopped short when the  
puppet's eyes suddenly opened partway and he spoke.  
  
"Jiminy..." he groaned. "I'm not gonna make it." I was flabbergasted. His heart had been stolen  
by the Heartless! How could he simply wake up? Granted, he didn't look fully awake, as his eyes  
were drooping and his breath labored, but the idea of him waking up at all was preposterous! But  
then an even odder thing happened. His nose increased in length, by about three or four inches.   
His eyes opened wider and his voice grew louder and more enthusiastic. Pinocchio was exactly  
the same way he'd been before. "Oh! I guess I'm okay!" The insect began to jump around in  
excitement. Now I was dumbstruck. His heart can't simply come back to him! Then his nose  
shrunk down to the length I was used to. At this point I really didn't understand what was going  
on. And to top it all off, the Heartless from before fell from out of nowhere onto the central  
platform. If Pinocchio's heart had truly made its way back to him, then the Heartless probably  
wanted it back. I noticed one of Maleficent's portals appear behind me, and it didn't take me long  
to accept. If Sora cared about Pinocchio and his heart more than he did Kairi and hers, then he  
was going to have to defend it alone. Furthermore, if Pinocchio could regain his heart once, then  
he could probably do it again, before I could give it to Kairi. So I left Sora, his companions and  
the Heartless there, terminating whatever past life we'd had together.  
  
******************************************************************************  
  
Long, compared to my prologue. Yes, there wasn't a lot of Sonic in there, but that will change  
next chapter. The purpose of this one is to set the stage for how Riku is feeling, and to help  
convey the gradual change from friend to enemy. I'll be churning out the next chapter soon, in  
which Riku enters the Mobius cluster (what do I mean by that? Well, you'll find out....) 


	3. Robotropolis

THE UNTOLD WORLD  
CHAPTER 3: ROBOTROPOLIS  
The Pezman  
  
"So, Kairi's like a lifeless puppet now, right?" I hated to get emotional in front of the witch, but  
she seemed to be understanding. She didn't do much to cheer me up, though.   
  
"Precisely."  
  
"And her heart was...." I knew the answer already, how could it be anything but? But even if  
there was a small percentage that...  
  
"Taken by the Heartless, no doubt."  
  
"Tell me!" I suddenly turned on her and pleaded, begged for an answer. I had thought I might  
have had one in the form of Sora, but I obviously didn't. Now, this black cloaked woman who,  
until very recently, I had secretly despised was my only hope, was HER only hope.  
  
"There are seven maidens of the purest heart. We call them the princesses of heart. Gather them  
together, and a door will open to the heart of all worlds. Within lies untold wisdom. There you  
will surely find a way to recover Kairi's heart." This took me by surprise. I had never heard of  
any of this. But on the other hand, I hadn't heard of other worlds until very recently. I suppose  
something like this could exist, but still.... the heart of all worlds? Wouldn't somebody have tried  
this already? "Now, I'll grant you a marvelous gift. The power to control the Heartless." If I  
had been surprised before, I was speechless now. The wi... Maleficent, granting me a gift? Not  
only had she given me an answer to run towards, she was going to give me a very useful ability to  
go along with it! This had definitely not been in our contract. A glow surrounded me, I can't  
remember what color. It only lasted about five seconds, but when I was done, I felt a small  
sensation in my chest. I put my hand to it and scratched it. Maleficent noticed this.  
  
"Controlling the Heartless is not an easy task. This now means they are after your heart. Fall too  
deep into the power, and they will surely have it. Use the small trickle of darkness now present to  
remind you of that."  
  
I nodded. "Okay. But where's Kairi? I have to find her!"  
  
Maleficent's eyes narrowed. "Kairi has been found in the Mobius Cluster."  
  
In the short time I had been aware of other worlds, I had never heard of a... cluster. "The Mobius  
Cluster?"  
  
"Most worlds are stand-alone, that is, they are their own universe and had their own barriers  
before the Heartless destroyed them. The Mobius cluster, however, is different. It is a group of  
hundreds of small worlds, in close proximity, all orbiting around Mobius, the largest one. No  
barriers separate them, and therefore it is of little difficulty to move between them."  
  
"The Mobius cluster..." I echoed. Between this, the gift, and the confrontation with Sora I'd just  
had, my head was full of thoughts. "What...." I started, but I was talking to nothing. Maleficent  
had vanished on me. It was the first time she had ever done that without my knowledge....  
  
"Where to, sir?" The short little squeaky-voiced man approached me.  
  
My answer was quick and swift. "The Mobius Cluster."   
  
******************************************************************************  
  
"These guys are really becoming a nuisance!" Bunnie Rabbot complained. "We can't go out  
anymore without runnin' into endless wave after wave of em! And we've fought em for days, but  
they don't seem to be dwindlin' at all!"   
  
"Did anyone else noticed that weird mark on most of them?" interjected Sally, certain that her  
observation had some importance.  
  
"I deed!" proclaimed Antoine the coyote. "Most of zem had eet. Zee small black ones, zo, zey  
were completely plain."  
  
"Okay," muttered Sonic. "So Robo-pants gave em a paint job. What does that have to do with  
us?"  
  
"It wasn't a paint job." Saly spoke with conviction. "That symbol didn't have any metal plates  
connected behind it..." Realizing she wasn't being clear, she faulted, trying to express her  
thoughts in a comprehensible matter. "Usually when we encounter a robot, it has nuts and bolts  
holding the different plates together. But that heart symbol... it didn't have anything. It didn't  
even seem to be metal! Just this empty black abyss...."  
  
"Sal," interjected the impatient blue speedster, "are you sure this means anything at all?"  
  
"I would stake my life on eet!" Antoine insisted. "Zeez are not your run-of-ze-mill type of  
Mobians!"  
  
"I'd say they're not Mobians at all!" Rotor threw in.  
  
"What, you mean that they may have come from another zone?" Tails inquired.  
  
"Exactly!" the walrus answered. "There are hundreds of zones out there that we've visited.   
Robotnik could've easily found one which housed these guys and put them to his use."  
  
"I don't think he could've gotten that many from the zone, though. How many of these guys  
have we destroyed? Fifty? A hundred? Two hundred? Whatever it is, it's a lot, and Robotnik  
should be hurting! If he had this many robots at his disposal, then he would've started this long  
ago!"   
"This is definitely one mystery that needs solving, and quickly," sighed Sally.  
  
******************************************************************************  
  
"Good lord, this place is huge!" exclaimed the captain. Indeed, the sight of over four hundred  
tiny worlds orbiting a large center one was nothing to pass by. But I was unperturbed. I would  
search through all of them to find her. The lackey scurried over to me. "What shall we do, sir?"   
Behind him, I could see the captain gritting his teeth, his knuckles white on his sword hilt. I  
contented myself with the fact that he couldn't match me if his life depended on it and focused my  
attention on the lackey.  
  
"What will we do?" I repeated. For a moment I didn't even know myself. Then I decided to  
perform the hardest task first. "Take me to the big one."  
  
******************************************************************************  
  
Walking through what appeared to be one dump of a supercity, I began to think that this may not  
have been such a foolproof plan. I had ordered the ship to comb the other planets and come get  
me when they were done. Perhaps I should have gone with them. If Kairi wasn't on this world,  
then I'd be getting lung cancer for nothing. But even at the thought of her name my lungs were  
automatically clean, and I was ready for whatever happened to come my way. I didn't have long  
to wait, for a peculiar Heartless suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It was spider-like, possessing  
six legs and an small elevated body whose position stood a good half a foot above mine. On its  
top was the typical Heartless symbol. But this was not the strangest part about it. It appeared to  
have some kind of black metal plating all over its body. I looked, but I couldn't see a patch of  
Heartless skin (or whatever it was that I'd normally see) anywhere on it. But it made no  
difference to me. I readied my saber and was about to attack it when I recalled the feeling in my  
chest. Of course! Maleficent's gift! How could I have forgotten about it so quickly? But how  
exactly to control it....  
  
"Stand down!" I commanded in a loud and clear voice. The spider Heartless simply raised a leg  
and brought it down toward me. But that was nothing I couldn't dodge. I jumped out of the  
way, high enough to bring my sword down on its head. However, this merely resulted in a terrific  
clanging sound as the metal on my sword slightly dented its armor. Before I'd fallen a foot  
another leg was in the air and had smacked me. I was driven back a few feet, surprised but far  
from beaten. Apparently I was going to have to learn some new strategies for this stronger breed.   
Perhaps its legs were weaker than its head. I sped toward them and sliced at one. The reward  
was another dent, but the Heartless didn't even flinch as it swung another leg at me. I blocked  
with the saber, but it sent waves of vibrations through my body. It was all I could do to avoid the  
next leg. I ran a short ways back to ponder the next option. I usually didn't let things get to me.   
I could either solve the problem, or, if I couldn't, I simply moved on to something else. That's the  
way I had always operated, and therefore I rarely lost my cool. However, I didn't have the feeling  
I could walk away from this problem. I had one last idea. I ran toward it, as before. The  
Heartless brought a leg low to try and trip me, but that was just what I was counting on. I leapt  
high, and was able to deliver a kick directly to the body. The Heartless toppled over like a  
coconut tree. It didn't appear to move after that, but all the same, I figured I'd move around a bit  
more quickly and stealthily.  
  
I almost immediately regretted my decision. I no more enjoyed moving from shadow to shadow  
than I had keeping myself underwater to avoid being seen by Sora back in Monstro. But as much  
as this wasn't my style, it was probably the best choice. As soon as I had walked along three of  
those dirty streets, another one could be seen on what appeared to be patrol. I was going to  
move on when the feeling in my chest pulsed a little. I leaned against the wall in the shadows to  
consider this. This chest feeling, what did it tell me? Did it remind me of my gift? Was I going  
further into darkness? Did it alert me when Heartless were nearby? If that was the case, then  
mission accomplished. The spider Heartless was almost out of sight. I would try to control it  
again, this time without words in case it didn't work again. I waved my hand in its direction.....  
and was immediately struck on the backside. As soon as I was down I flipped over, expecting to  
see another spider-Heartless. But I didn't. It was a humanoid machine, gray and white in color,  
with what looked like some kind of satellite dish for a head and a red line where its eyes should've  
been.  
  
"Organic material," it droned. "Non-Heartless. Bring to Dr. Robotnik." I had no idea who or  
what Dr. Robotnik was, but I had the feeling this place was getting increasingly hostile. Between  
these Heartless who didn't seem to listen to me and this new robot who apparently wanted me  
somewhere, I was having second thoughts about coming here.... at least without Tentacle and his  
lackeys. But as far as this immediate concern, I assumed its armor was like that of the Heartless -  
too strong for my sword. I found the fact that armor could render my sword so useless to be  
more than a little unlikely and suspicious, as Maleficent had given it to me to assist me in finding  
Kairi. Unlike her more recent present, I hadn't thought it very special at the time; it seemed to be  
a metal version of the sword I used at Destiny Islands. But the sword had served me well and,  
until now, had never been stopped. So I decided on the same strategy as I used on the spider  
Heartless: I jumped and landed a kick on its satellite head. At least, that was my plan. The  
machination saw it coming and grabbed me by the leg. I swung my hands around, still clutching  
my sword, in what I knew would be a vain attempt to free myself. But it didn't turn out to be  
vain at all. My sword went through its arm as easily as Kairi had slipped through my fingers,  
freeing me from the iron grip. I was puzzled. My sword had had no effect on the plating of the  
spider Heartless but had no trouble with the metal here. But that was all the thinking time I had,  
as I hit the ground and ran, not bothering to dislodge the arm from my leg. The robot, apparently  
unfazed, ran after me. Its satellite head was blaring and flashing red lights. As I ran away from  
the robot, I could see more of them, as well as spider Heartless. And down every street I passed I  
saw more coming. Even my determination to rescue Kairi couldn't save me from all of them, as  
much as I hated to admit it, and it was becoming more apparent that they would soon surround  
me. I didn't have to wait long. Soon enough, my back was to one of the doorways of a very  
large building, satellite robots and spider Heartless abounding. I didn't want to think of this as my  
end. I'd barely landed on a world and already I was going to perish? No. Kairi still needed me.   
It can't end here! I decided I'd make one last play, for time more than anything else. I extended  
my arm, holding my palm out as if to ward off the horde. I cleared my throat, and shouted....  
  
"Stand down!" And they listened. Every last one of the robots and spider Heartless stepped back  
five feet. But I wasn't impressed, or even surprised. I was curious, for the voice that had  
commanded my adversaries hadn't been mine. "Hello, boy." The voice was coming from.....  
directly behind me! I whirled around, sword at the ready, only to face one of the most curious  
people I had ever seen.  
  
He was not human-animal, like Sora's duck and dog friends. He was completely human. But if  
you were to see him from any distance farther than mine, you would have to consider other  
possibilities. His most prominent feature was his girth. This guy must have weighed 275, 300  
pounds easily. His red and yellow jumpsuit and his flowing yellow cape made him difficult to miss  
in the otherwise gray city which he seemed to have some authority in, and his enormous red  
moustache added a flair to an otherwise hairless head. A smile was inhabiting his large face.  
  
"What have we here, sir?" Another human stepped out from behind the first man. This one was  
twenty times less imposing. He was short, shorter than Hand's lackey, and although he was  
grinning malevolently, he looked to possess about just as much spine. There were a few long  
hairs on his head, but otherwise he was as bald as his apparent master. He was dressed in a plan  
blue sweater, and had a nose large enough to poke somebody's eye out.   
  
"Come Snively, no need to be rude to our guest." the first man stated. The grin of the man who  
was called Snively vanished instantly and was replaced by a look of confusion that probably  
resembled my own. "Boy, you're here looking for a girl, correct?"  
  
Instantly my sword was at the ready. "How do you know about Kairi?"  
  
"I know lots of things. I know about the Heartless. I know about the Keyblade. I even know  
your name, Riku."  
  
I couldn't hide my shock on this one. This guy evidently had some answers, and I wanted them.   
I remasked my face with the confident air it usually had and put him on the defensive. "Fine. If  
you know my name, I want to know yours."  
  
He didn't seem to have a problem with that. "My name is Julian Kintobor of the house of Ivo, but  
you can call me Dr. Robotnik." He gestured to his comparatively tiny companion. "This is my  
nephew, Snively Kintobor. Please, come inside. We have much to discuss." He raised his head  
and addressed his robots. "Continue on patrol! If those accursed Freedom Fighters make even  
one move into Robotropolis, exterminate them!" Robotnik put one of his meaty arms across my  
back, and guided me inside, as the crowd of robots and metal Heartless dispersed behind us.  
  
******************************************************************************  
  
Well, I finally got it out. Go me. Unfortunately, to those few who have been following this, I  
can't promise when the next one's coming. I work on this very infrequently, as I've much else to  
do. I think the next part will come out before the end of most people's school year. 


End file.
